The United States Federal Maritime Board was an agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce, responsible for certain aspects of merchant shipping between 1950 and 1961.
The Federal Maritime Board was responsible for regulating shipping and awarding subsidies for construction and operation of merchant vessels, while MARAD was responsible for administering subsidy programs, maintaining the national defense reserve merchant fleet, and operating the U.S.
The Federal Maritime Board was abolished in 1961, when U.S. shipping laws were separated into two categories: regulatory and promotional.
Responsibility for U.S. merchant shipping has been held by different federal agencies since 1917.
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Archives and Records Administration.